"Greek" Meat Pastries with Spinach Ricotta Pesto

prep time:: 20 min
total time:: 40 min

Makes 4 pastries

You have to love Greek food, when Rochester’s Greek Festival is every year on your birthday. This is kind of souvlaki and spanikopita with meat, cheese, and spinach pesto in a pastry.

ingredients

Meat:
2 cups of leftover pork and beef (I added a stray pork chop and some tenderloin roast to the mix)
1/2 cup of sliced pitted kalamata olives
1/2 cup of grated romano cheese
1/2 cup grated provolone cheese
Pastry: 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 plus 1 tablespoon of salad oil. 4 to 6 tablespoons of cold water.
Spinach Ricotta and Carrot “Pesto”:
2 cups of baby spinach
1/4 cup of baby carrots
1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
1/4 cup of walnuts
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

directions

1
Chop or slice left over meat and place in marinade of 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1/4 cup of lemon juice,1 teaspoon of oregano,1 tablespoon of minced garlic for 1 to 2 days. Pulse meat and marinade in food processor and set aside. Make pesto by placing all ingredients in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
2
Prepare pastry. Found in an old “Good Housekeeping” cookbook, it is better to divide the ingredients in half and work with one “pastry shell” at a time. Place 1/2 of all ingredients listed above, adding oil and mixing into fine crumbles with a fork. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the pastry is slightly “sticky”. Form into two balls and place on floured surface and roll into two small pastries. Repeat the process with the second half of the ingredients to make four small parties.
3
Place meat mixture, 1/4 of pesto, 1/4 cup of grated cheese into each pastry. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes brushing each pastry with 1/4 of an egg white. Serve with “Mock Taziki Sauce”: 1/2 cup of sour cream, 1 cup chopped cucumber, 1/2 teaspoon of dill,1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic

notes

There are as always, so many variations on "Greek" meat pies. Some have ground beef, sausage, pork, lamb. Try your own variation with what you have on hand.

Source: cindy